Questival Chicago 2016

This weekend I did a 24-hour adventure race in Chicago. Starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, teams complete as many challenges and earn as many points as they can until it ends at 7 p.m Saturday.

I raced with two of my coworkers, and we had more fun in 24 hours than I thought possible.

We saw the sunset, put up a tent in the dark (with only a little help), started and maintained a campfire, made chocolate-marshmallow-banana s'mores, sang songs, roasted weenies, howled at the moon, brushed each other's teeth, slept for three and a half hours, took down a tent in the rain, watched the sun rise, went to a diner and ordered the 13th thing on the menu (a greek omelette, not bad), discovered the Illinois state song is not very upbeat, rock climbed, ate a doughnut without using our hands, went to the zoo, fed cows, went to a conservatory, visited a farmer's market, ate an onion like an apple (in public) (with people staring), gave flowers to strangers, fed each other pizza using only our elbows, went swimming fully clothed, had the most delicious smoothie of my life (banana and almond butter), ran a 40-yard dash, and rode bikes along the lake.

Even though we did a lot in a relatively short amount of time, it all felt less intense than I had anticipated, which is a good thing. We weren't sprinting around from place to place to do a challenge and immediately move on to the next one. For us, it wasn't about the points. It was about having fun and enjoying the day.

Signing up for Questival was a pretty spontaneous decision, made only two weeks before the race, but as a person who loves being outside, breathing fresh air, and trying new things, I am 100% glad I did it.